“The sons of Simeon were Jemuel, Jamin, Jarib, Zohar, and Shaul. 25 The descendants of Shaul were Shallum, Mibsam, and Mishma. 26 The descendants of Mishma were Hammuel, Zaccur, and Shimei. 27 Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters, but none of his brothers had large families. So Simeon’s tribe never grew as large as the tribe of Judah.” 1 Chronicles 4:24-27 NLT
“The oldest son of Israel was Reuben. But since he dishonored his father by sleeping with one of his father’s concubines, his birthright was given to the sons of his brother Joseph. For this reason, Reuben is not listed in the genealogical records as the firstborn son. 2 The descendants of Judah became the most powerful tribe and provided a ruler for the nation, but the birthright belonged to Joseph.3 The sons of Reuben, the oldest son of Israel, were Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. 4 The descendants of Joel were Shemaiah, Gog, Shimei, 5 Micah, Reaiah, Baal, 6 and Beerah. Beerah was the leader of the Reubenites when they were taken into captivity by King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria.” 1 Chronicles 5:1-4 NLT
God of Israel,
Reading through the Bible as events happened, today we read the Chroniclers of the day recording Your peoples family trees. It was important to be able to work out their ancestry back to Abraham. For that sense of belonging, and being of those who belong to You, God. It takes some reading through but like the excerpt’s above they do included little interesting snippets of history and what happened to them. Like Reuben no longer being listed as first born even though he was and why. And Simeon’s great, great grandsons had small families. The BIble is a story of real people, families and nation. And we learn from them about You and You teach us through them.
Today those of us, who choose Christ as our Saviour, become Your sons and daughters (2 Corinthians 6:18, 1 John 3:1,) You adopted us and there will be a chronicle of our birthright in Christ written in heaven in the book of life. It is an awesome warning in Revelation that there is a book of life. A chronicle of those who have bowed the knee to Christ and accepted HIm as Lord. And the terrible fate of those who have not (Revelation 20:15). We today learn from each other about You God and You can teach us much through each other if we are willing to learn.
In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
Worship Thursday 11th September 2025
Church doesn’t always feel like family for many reasons. Do I help or hinder?
Welcome to the family,
We are glad that you have come
To share your life with us,
As we grow in love,
And may we always be to you
What God would have us be,
A family always there,
To be strong and to lean on.
May we learn to love each other
More with each new day,
May words of love be on our lips,
In ev’ry thing we say.
May the Spirit melt our hearts,
And teach us how to pray,
That we might be a true family.
Lyrics: Debby Kerner Rettino (Psalty)